Meta’s ‘AI overbuild’ finds a buyer as Anthropic eyes $10 billion computing power deal
Meta’s massive investment in AI infrastructure, once seen as a potential liability, may be turning into an unexpected business opportunity.
Meta is currently in talks to lease computing power from its AI data centers to Anthropic in a deal worth up to $10 billion over two years, three people with knowledge of the discussions told The New York Times. Although negotiations are still in the early stages and may not result in a deal, if they do, Meta could generate revenue from the massive computing capacity it has built for its AI ambitions.
The talks come as Wall Street questions whether tech companies are spending too aggressively on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Meta admits it’s overbuilt on AI
Meta will spend as much as $145 billion this year, most of it on artificial intelligence, more than double the $72 billion it spent last year. The company has faced questions about whether its own AI models can compete with those developed by rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI. He also acknowledged that he could create more data centers than he needs based on the number of customers using AI products.
Ironically, that same concern may now be creating an opportunity.
Selling excess computing power to companies like Anthropic could provide Meta with a new revenue stream until it can meet demand for its own AI services.
Zuckerberg hinted in a recent call with investors that selling computing power could be a way for Meta to generate some return on its AI investments.
“Almost every week we have different companies coming to us from the outside asking about computing power that they can buy from us for a little bit more than what we’re buying it for,” Zuckerberg said on an investor call in May. “We haven’t done that yet because we think we can use computing.”
“But frankly if we get to a point where we feel like we’re overbuilding, then that’s an option that we have, and that’s partly what gives us the confidence to invest in building that,” he said.
The proposed Anthropic agreement suggests that the scenario may be closer than expected.
Seeing increased demand for Claude Code software, Anthropic is scrambling to secure computing resources. Anthropic’s offer for Meta was about one-third the size of the deal the AI start-up signed with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in May. Under this agreement, Anthropic will pay the rocket company $45 billion over three years (or $1.25 billion per month) for computing power.
And for Meta, the deal will represent more than just another AI partnership. While this could mark the start of a new line of business, such as leasing AI infrastructure, it could also ease investors’ concerns that the billions of dollars spent on data centers might otherwise be underutilized.
